A computer mouse (i.e., mouse) is a small hand-held interactive input device that, when rolled over a flat surface, controls placement of the cursor on a computer's terminal display screen. The palm-sized device has typically a generally oval shape and is usually connected to the computer by a wire that is suggestive of a tail (although wireless mice are currently on the market), hence the name “mouse”.
Mice contain at least one button and sometimes as many as three, which have different functions depending on which program is running. Some newer mice also include scroll wheels, which have a growing popularity because it gives the user the ability to scroll through long documents easily.
The mouse is important ergonomically because it frees the user to a large extent from having to use the keyboard. In particular, the mouse is important for graphical user interfaces because one can simply point to options and objects, e.g., an icon, and click a mouse button. Such applications are often called “point-and-click” programs.
There are at least two basic types of mice: electromechanical and optical. The electromechanical mouse has a rubber or metal ball (trackball) protruding from its underside that can roll in all directions. Typically mechanical sensors within the mouse detect the speed and direction the ball is rolling and move the screen pointer accordingly. To provide good traction, an electromechanical mouse is generally used with a flat soft-cushioned mouse pad.
An optical mouse utilizes optical sensors to detect movement of the mouse relative to a surface. The optical mouse has no mechanical moving parts, and may be used on almost any flat surface. They respond more quickly and precisely than electromechanical mice, and are growing in popularity. An optical mouse generally features a scrolling and zooming wheel, and two customizable buttons on opposing sides of the scroll wheel. The buttons facilitate internet navigation and other routine tasks.
The use of a mouse with presently known computers, however, usually requires the hand to leave the keyboard to operate the mouse. This is disruptive of the continuous and rapid flow of information between keyboard and computer. Moreover, people who are disabled in certain ways either cannot, or only with difficulty, can use a keyboard or a hand operated mouse. Some devices have been developed to permit a user's hands to remain on a computer keyboard while utilizing another means to control a cursor or to manipulate icons on a computer screen. Some of these “hands free” devices are foot-operated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,305 to Bookstein discloses one such foot operated device and is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. The foot-operated control in Bookstein includes a base; a pair of parallel rails mounted on the base; and a rectangular frame slidably or rollably mounted on the rails for translation back and forth along the rails. The frame receives a housing, which is positioned within the frame and slidably or rollably engaged with the frame. The housing is moveable back and forth within the frame in a direction perpendicular to the direction of translation between the frame and the rails. The housing has a top surface and encloses or covers a mouse, to allow the mouse to slidably engage the base, and to receive a foot on the top surface of the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,685 to Best discloses another such foot operated device and is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Best illustrates a foot operated computer mouse adaptor for operating a conventional computer mouse with a computer user's foot having a cavity into which the computer mouse fits and a means to removably attach the computer user's foot onto the housing. The foot operated computer mouse adaptor allows a computer user to use a conventional computer mouse via the movement of the user's foot on any substantially flat surface.
However, prior art foot operated devices, such as those disclosed in Bookstein or Best, do not include a means for engaging a scroll wheel on a mouse. Scroll wheels have become an increasingly popular feature on mice because they improve searching speed by allowing a user to quickly and continuously move through documents simply by turning the scroll wheel. Thus they provide more efficient scrolling through long documents or web sites, than the traditional software scroll bars typically found on the side of the word processor page or web page. The scroll wheel is often found on the newer optical mice, and is often straddled by a pair of point and click control buttons.
Based on the foregoing, it is the general object of the present invention to provide a foot operated computer mouse control device that overcomes the problems and drawbacks associated with prior art foot operated devices.